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Monday, July 31, 2006

We have finished a pass through the Red Book and I am now going through the Blue Book. I am starting with the original high level specifications for the ships in the German 1905 building program. The first are the four battleships to be built in 1905, which were 580ft x 90ft x 26.6ft, with a Standard displacement of 22,000 tons, 8-12in/45 BLR and 12-4in QF guns. The belt is specified to be 10in. The speed wanted is 23 knots. I am using normal weight machinery. All boilers are oil-fired. This is the Springsharp report:

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Applying David K. Brown's concept for what the smaller GB/CB/1905 should have been means that the speed drops to 33 knots. I had to lighten the machinery to use 1923 technology, to keep the Standard displacement at 25,000 tons of the original concept. This version has the 8-12in guns and 6in side armour that Mr. Brown told me would be best. Doing what D. K. Brown suggested actually makes the GB/CB/1905 a much more potent ship than what my friend Cliff was going to build. This is the Springsharp report:

This is the GB/CB/1905 as a very fast battlecruiser. I had assumed that it would not be as fast as the GB/CB/1907 very fast version. The GB/CB/1905 from Springsharp is still a bit light, as the idea was to have a Standard displacement of 25,000 tons. I tried "de-rating" the machinery to 1921, but when I went to an 18 knot cruising speed, for a range of 7,500nm, Springsharp reduced the Standard displacement. This is the Springsharp report:

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Back in 2001, D. K. Brown, the naval architect and author, told me that my battlecruiser design needed eight guns and 6in side armour to really be viable. I thought that it would be interesting to apply that to the GB/CB/1907 design that I did earlier today. The speed necessarily has to be reduced (to 34 knots). I modifed the secondary armament to be 10-6in QF guns. That actually was my friend Cliff's original concept, but he decided that he could put one gun on the centerline aft, in a superfiring position, and still get the same broadside with one less gun. This is the Springsharp report:

About 1973, I had wondered if by using very lightweight machinery, the GB/CB/1905 and GB/CB/1907 designs might have been able to achieve very high speeds. The answer is that they could, although I had overestimated the speed they could make with the power I wanted to provide. Rather than 43 knots, the GB/CB/1907 is good for 37 knots, still quite fast. I did cheat in Springsharp and raise the normal displacement to 28,300 tons, after raising the freeboard by a foot. I could have left it lower, but I wanted to raise the cruising speed to 18 knots. My friend Cliff had named the ships of this class:

1907
Kent
Lancaster
Donegal
Suffolk
1908
Wessex
Cornwall

They were intended to have 12in/50 guns. This is the Springsharp report:

Friday, July 28, 2006

This is the version of the Ger/BB/1916 design that has 9-18in guns, 24-5in QF guns, and has a 65,000 ton Standard displacement. The hull is flush-decked, with a high freeboard and flared bow. The protection is expansive, having an 18in armour basis, but is less than the 34,663 tons that I had originally specified. The difference seems to be in that I have put that into the machinery, so that the ship has a 27.5 knot speed. This is the Springsharp report:

Thursday, July 27, 2006

This is a design study proposed by my friend Cliff for the GB/CB/1905 design. It is really a better ship than what he decided to use. His design study had a 6in belt, 6-12in and 8-6in guns, and a 31 knot speed (he actually hoped to achieve 31.2 knots). When I used his armouring scheme, the weight exceeded what he had planned for the protection weight. This is the Springsharp report:

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Ger/CB/1909 design is pretty amazing to me, as it is very close to the original concept and weights. The ship is rather odd, in that the armament is 6-12in guns in triple turrets and 8-6.7in BLR guns in twin turrets. The armour basis is 5in, although turrets and barbettes are 8in. The ship is laid down in 1909 and has 1909 machinery. The power generated is more than I had originally allowed for the weight, so the ship can reach 32.5 knots. This is the Springsharp report:

I continue to be interested in the guns above 16in caliber that were planned in the 1919 to 1921 period. The Washington Naval Treaty killed them off, but they existed at least as specifications, if not prototypes. Brassey's Naval Annual for 1919 to 1921 lists the characteristics, such as weight of the piece, length, shot weight, and muzzle velocity. Such information is of interest to those, like me, who are designing ships using Springsharp.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

I don't believe that I have published this previously: Ger/CB/1917. I did not give the design a designation on the specification page, but this is my estimate. The ship was to be a 36,000 ton Standard battlecruiser with 6-18in and 10-5in guns. The normal displacement was to be 37,500 tons. I had hoped for very extreme and unrealistic speeds, but 36 knots is still pretty good. This is the Springsharp report:

Monday, July 24, 2006

The Ger/BB/1916 design is a pretty compact ship to be carrying 20in guns, but the design works in Springsharp, at least if you allow lightweight machinery and accept an 18in armour basis. The armament is 9-20in BLR and 24-5in QF guns. I increased the speed to take advantage of the capacity in the design, so this version can reach 27 knots. The drawing is anachronistic, in may ways. I have a concept of a photograph of the ship, taken from the air, in the Pacific, would look like a WWII battleship. I started to write that the ship does not look German, but it does, except that the two funnels are not like what was used in WWII ships. This is the Springsharp report:

My friend Cliff intended to built the GB/BB/1914 design in quantity. He wanted a 25-knot battleship with 18in guns. We liked the 5in gun as our secondary armament. Even Admiral Fisher liked the size, as the shell is easily handled, compared to the 6in shell. The main problem with the design is that to achieve adequate strength, the Standard displacement needed to be much greater than 48,500 tons. To satisfy Springsharp, the Standard displacement needed to be 55,354 tons. This is the Springsharp report:

Saturday, July 22, 2006

My friend Cliff was interested in exploring the space of possible battleship designs. The GB/BB/1909 design had rather thin turret and barbette armour (8in) and very thick deck armour (7in). The design study does not have a specification. I have an inboard profile and armour weights broken down. I also have a 26,000 ton Standard displacement and dimensions. The Cp is specified as 0.61. The drawing is annotated with armour thicknesses and the weights mention the deck thickness and the A/T bulkhead thickness (2in). I have adjusted the speed to be that which is achievable. The barrel lengths indicate that the guns are greater than 12in, so I moved up to 13.5in guns. This is the Springsharp report:

Friday, July 21, 2006

This specification appears to be for a ship that was intended to give up speed and armament to achieve good protection. The hull is flush decked and there are two triple 12in turrets, one at either end. There is a complete belt, 14in amidships and 6in at the ends. The deck armour is 4in. The design has so much excess capacity that a speed of 26 knots can be achieved. This is the Springsharp report:

Thursday, July 20, 2006

As usual, the GB/CB/1908 design for a fast battlecruiser with 6-12in guns depends on lightweight machinery. The specification is minimal, giving the Standard displacement as 25,000 tons and the armament as 6-12in guns. The dimensions are only referenced by the displacement calculation. Otherwise, I would have only known the length (750ft). I went with a secondary armament of 10-6in QF guns, as there was nothing given. I suspect that my friend Cliff, who conceived the design, would have had fewer 6in guns. The specification specified 4in-6in armour, so I used that for the upper and lower belt. (The freeboard is higher, still, but corrected to reflect the long forecastle and lower quarterdeck)

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

In 1973, I had played with the GB/BB/1905 design to see what sort of high speed might be attainable with lightweight machinery. In what I was able to achieve with Springsharp, the protection that my friend Cliff had specified actually weighed more than I had allowed in 1973, and less power was required than I had thought would be necessary. The result is rather a compromise, but one which is about what I had wanted. The ship is now a 30-knot ship with 13.4in armour. This is the Springsharp report:

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

My friend Cliff's concept for the GB/PG/1915 is very difficult to realize in Springsharp. He wanted a flush-decked ship with 4-4in QF guns and a speed of 32 knots. The Standard displacement was 800 tons in Cliff's specification. He allowed for 250 tons of oil fuel. The reality was that in Springsharp, some compromises had to be made to achieve adequate strength and seakeeping. The freeboard had to be considerably raised and the displacement ballooned to 939 tons Standard. The fuel oil was 254 tons, so it is very close to the specified amount. This is the Springsharp report:

Monday, July 17, 2006

I have had trouble with getting a good result from Springsharp with the GB/CS/1914 scout cruiser. This and a fast gunboat design were conceived by my friend Cliff, back in 1971, as what he wanted to build, starting in 1915. I have tried to stay close to his concept, while working at having an acceptable Springsharp report. The main concern I have about what the design is the roll period is probably too short. The ship has an ambitious 32 knot speed and carries 4-6in QF guns with 4-21in TT. I worked in some light protection, and Springsharp did that while still letting me get by with the fast, light combatant strength (between 0.5 and 1.0). This is the Springsharp report:

Sunday, July 16, 2006

In about 1973, I started to experiment with what extended versions of my original designs for the wargame building program. For the Ger/BB/1907 design, I decided to go for lighter weight machinery and reduced side armour coverage, so the result was more like an 1870's design, with unarmoured ends, except for the deck. I thought that about 120,000 SHP would produce 30 knots, and that proved to be correct. I was able to stay within the 27,500 tons normal displacement. I had thought that the Standard displacement would be 25,847 tons, and the Springsharp design proved to be very close at 25,830 tons. The ship carries 8-12in and 12-4in guns, and the armour basis is 12in with a 4in deck. I did have to increase the draft at normal displacement to 27.5ft, to help achieve adequate strength. The steadiness and seakeeping are both just barely adequate, I suppose due to the high speed that the design is trying to achieve.
This is a photo of one of the ships:

Saturday, July 15, 2006

I had the idea, in the summer of 1973, that the Ger/BB/1905 design could be expanded by using light-weight, high-power machinery. Instead of a 23-knot ship, it becomes a 289 knot ship. This is a nominally 22,000 ton ship with 8-12in BLR and 12-4in QF guns, with a 10in armour basis. I also have several recent photos of ships of this type:

This is of one of the ships in the South Atlantic, taken from a boat.

This is actually a more useful photo, as you can see detail.
This is the Springsharp report:

Friday, July 14, 2006

I am pleasantly surprised just how viable the original concept is for the Ger/CB/1905 battlecruisers. They were nominally 33 knot ships with 8-12in guns and a 4in armour basis.
This is the photo of one of the ships, as originally conceived:

This is another GB/BB/1915 design study. This study explored how well 9-16.5in guns would work on a relatively short 45,000 ton ship. I implemented the design so that the machinery power, weight, and protection weight were as close as possible to what was specified. This is an outline of the original specification:

Thursday, July 13, 2006

The Super Lion was a design from the Red Book from the early 1970's. This photo closely follows the original pencil sketch from that period. Since I overwrote what I had, this photo will appear now and in what I had originally posted:

This is a design study for a British battleship to be built in 1915. The drawing style seems to date the design to what I was doing about 1973. The ship had 12-16in BLR and 12-6in QF guns. I had underestimated the necessary displacement to achieve adequate strength. I had thought that the Standard displacement could be as low as 50,000 tons, but I had to increase the displacement in Springsharp. I had underestimated the speed that could be achieved with 170,000 SHP. Instead of 27.5 knots, the design can reach 29.5 knots. This is the Springsharp report:

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

All I have on the Red Book page for this is an inboard profile. I used a little creative license to supply the other specifications. I did that and what would make Springsharp happy. The pencil drawing shows a 920ft long, flush-decked hull. The armament is four main turrets, with two superfiring. The secondary armament is clearly meant to be 16-6in QF guns. This is the Springsharp report:

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About Me

I spent 11 years on active duty in the navy. Half was as an enlisted man and half as an officer. My Dad had interested me in the navy and ships, when I was young. I found that I was attracted to doing research, regardless of topic, although much of that research has been in the fields of naval and military history. My Dad was also an artist, and got me drawing and painting since I was three. Much of my work consists of portraits of military and naval historical figures, as well as ships and tanks.